December 21, 2012

We're not counting on the world ending today and neither is NASA. What we can count on is another winter solstice. Why is winter weather cold? What happens to plants in the winter? Where do animals go in the winter? What is hibernation? This book answers these questions and many more. There's even a simple experiment related to winter that will engage young readers and create a fun learning environment.

ExperimentYou will need:

2 ice cubes

2 bowls or cups

salt

clock or watch

1. Put one ice cube in each bowl.

2. Pour some salt over one ice cube. Add nothing to the second ice cube.

3. Check the ice cubes every ten minutes. Which ice cube melts fastest? Can you guess why people put salt

December 20, 2012

How do you spell relief? B-O-O-K-S. When Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast it caused devastation to many homes and businesses. There were school and public libraries that suffered losses as well. This week we're packing up book donations to send to some of the libraries that need help rebuilding their book collections. We hope to hear that these libraries will be re-opening in the near future with shelves stocked with books.

In the meantime, many librarians are temporarily sharing space with other districts or public libraries or they have been moved into trailers while repairs are taking place. Some librarians have been provided space to receive donations, while others must wait until repairs to their space are completed.

If your school or public library needs assistance due to damage caused by the hurricane, please contact us at customerservice@enslow.com with "Hurricane Relief" in the subject line.

December 11, 2012

Engageny.org, a website created and maintained by the New York State Department of Education, released its Common Core-related curriculum for the state's elementary schools. Included in the Grade 3 Language Arts curriculum is the Enslow title Poison Dart Frogs Up Close. Author Carmen Bredeson's 24-page book features exceptional full-color photos of the deadly amphibians as well as a well-written, Guided Reading Level "K" text.

December 7, 2012

The Cost of Making eBooks (Part 1)

Hi. I’m the Digital Production Developer at Enslow Publishers. My name is Kurt Weber and I’ve been asked to write up a series of blog entries about the more technical side of eBooks. I'll do my best to not bore you, but I have that affect when I try to talk technical. Or talk anything, really. My position didn't exist before the company’s decision to make eBooks some time ago and it's been an evolutionary process. Prior to this, I spent 10 years as a graphic designer on the Production Department staff. Using desktop software, I was responsible for creating the page and cover layouts of our printed books. Now I am responsible for taking those same layouts and getting them converted into a friendly, eBook format that can be read anywhere in the world.

Since I began this journey well over a year ago, eBooks have broken into the mainstream. As eReader devices become more common, more people are discovering the merits of reading an electronic book. Those same people are just venturing out into the eBook marketplace and many are suffering sticker shock. In that time, I’ve been hearing the same question over and over again, “Why do eBooks cost so much?” Or, more to the point, “Why isn’t every single eBook dirt cheap? There’s no paper, no printing, no warehouse, no trucking, no physical costs at all, so why would an eBook ever be more expensive than a printed book? It’s just an electronic file, like an e-mail, right?”

It is true that there is no physical inventory to deal with, but there are physical expenses. After all, an eBook is still a physical object, albeit a digital one. I’ll go into those physical expenses more a bit later, but just because an eBook can’t be put in a store window or gift wrapped, doesn’t mean that it didn’t take time, effort, and money to create and deliver it to you, the reader. Just because an eBook is an electronic file that CAN be e-mailed around the world in a flash, doesn’t mean that is how we get it to you. Not to get off topic too much, but your email has costs, too. Maybe not to you, but Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft, or more accurately, their advertisers, are paying for your ‘free-mail.’

One idea that my decade of print experience has reinforced, is that it takes a lot of people to make a book. Any book. (Before you jump up and say, “Self-Publish!” please replace the word ‘people’ with the word ‘time’ in the previous statement and any further reference to ‘people’ and ‘staff’ mentioned below.) That reality check will answer the first question:

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Since an eBook is always hidden in your reading device,it's easy to forget about the hidden costs to make it!

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Q: Why do eBooks cost so much? (I won’t go into actual dollar figures, but for some relative perspective, see this detailed two-part article.)

A: It takes a lot of people to make an eBook! Many of the same people who spend time making a printed book and getting it to market are now spending time making the eBook and getting it to market.

Before I dissect the issue, let’s assume that the book has already been written and even printed, but is now just being converted into a digital version. That will exclude the normal costs of author advances, editing, fact-checking, proof reading, photo research, securing photos and/or artwork, etc. So my example is really just addressing the argument, “If the printed book is already done and paid for, the only thing left to do is click SEND!” If only.

Let’s take the producers of the actual eBook file:

There is processing staff that track down and prepare the existing layout files for conversion.

There is production staff who take the existing layout file and translate it into HTML, XHTML, or XML code, and generate an EPUB file. There are automated programs that do this, but they have often been described as ‘meat-grinders.’ Get the idea?

There is proofing staff that check for errors, line by line. Yes, we do proofread our eBooks because things do get lost or mixed up in the conversion! They also proof the code.

Revise, revise, revise.

Already, you can see that a good number of people are involved in making the ‘physical’ eBook. All of this staffing and processing cost time. And as the old adage claims, Time=Money. (Yes, you self-publishers know what I'm talking about now!) I haven’t even gone into the hardware needs for processing and storing all of this digital information. I’ll save that for my next entry.

This series provides an interesting look at American wars through well-researched text, vivid color and black-and-white photographs, and detailed maps. Young readers will not only learn about the important battles and military leaders, but what life was like on the home front for women and children, and the legacy these wars have today.

December 3, 2012

Over the next few days we hope to introduce you to some of our new e-books. We will be adding more to the retailers sites as they are ready.

The Holocaust Through Primary Sources series, targeted toward the middle school reader, captures a variety of major events of the Holocaust, using first-person accounts. Through the words of the victims, bystanders, and perpetrators, individual experiences are told in detail. Unknown as well as well-known Holocaust figures are also looked at.

All six titles in this series (Auschwitz, Kristallnacht, Liberation, Rescuing the Danish Jews, Saving Children from the Holocaust, and The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising) are available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, and Kobo.

The library and paperback versions of these titles are also available on enslow.com or through your preferred vendor.